The shoemaker’s apprentice is straight off to work,
When his school day is over and done,
No matter how long the lesson, he’ll never be late,
Just look at that little boy run.

They call him Jesse,
Too young to be singinging the blues
Lord let me run in Jesse Owen’s shows.

Gentleman Jesse’s gonna run for the world,
He’s got a name no-one will ever forget,
No black man’s burden gonna weigh him down,
The weight of 4 gold medals won’t break no sweat.

Cried the Africans, the Gypsies and Jews

The gods on Olympus can’t believe their eyes,
Everybody wants to shake his hand,
And feel the power of his winning ways
Except for one angry man on the stand (He turned his back on…)

He went back to his room with his views.

Jesse’s no-one’s puppet and nobody’s pet,
The man’s got a family to feed,
He was the first one to take to the track with the name
That Mr Adidas wrote on his heels (And I don’t blame…)
He’s a winner that we’ll never lose. When will his homeland pay him his dues?